Colchester United boss Phil Parkinson was experiencing the bitter side of managerial life today.
He was holding his hands up after the U's lost 2-0 with a below-par performance at Coca-Cola League One strugglers Milton Keynes Dons.
It came only seven days after he led his charges out at Hull City and overcame them 2-0 in emphatic style in the FA Cup third round.
He said: "That is life as a manager. You have the highs and the lows.
"One week you're up there and doing well like at Hull, the next week you put in a performance like that Milton Keynes.
"It was down to me to make sure that we don't have these types of performances and I have to take the blame."
He added: "We can't start games like we did on Saturday. We knew it was going to be a battle and we didn't start like we did at Hull.
"There is a very fine line between a good team and a bad team and we crossed it.
"We made Milton Keynes look good. We have been defending well in recent weeks with three clean sheets, but we looked off the pace.
"It's a big disappointment after how well we had done over the Christmas period, going undefeated against some tough teams in Luton Town, Swindon Town and Oldham Athletic."
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Published Monday, January 17, 2005
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